Rec Center update 9/15

[from Reyn Anderson]

Here's the latest on the rec center from yesterday's ANC meeting:

Good news (dare I say it)! The DC Dept of Parks and Recreation and the Office of Contract Procurement have finally awarded the contract to build a spray park and two new playgrounds at the Petworth Recreation Center. The ball is finally out of the government's court. Keystone Plus Contractors, Inc. won the contract, and they have received a Notice to Proceed from the OCP; assuming all goes well with obtaining the necessary bonds, insurance and lining up sub-contractors, the actual (not ceremonial, that is) groundbreaking should happen in the first week of October. Be on the lookout for a Community Day soon thereafter, when residents should come out and join in the initial construction efforts.

Comments

[marni leikin]

and here we are, nov. 1, and nothing started at all on the new playgrounds....does anyone know what's up?

[Adam]

I was walking by the park on the corner of Taylor and 8th and saw that three of the park's largest trees appear to be marked for destruction (by a yellow X), plus at least two other smaller trees.

Not to be alarmist, but especially when renovations are at issue, DC tends to assess trees' health rather cursorily. If a tree doesn’t appear to be in perfect health – and these trees do not – they usually are condemned without any effort made to ameliorate whatever health issues may exist. (And whatever saplings are planted later tend to be neglected.)

The trees marked for destruction, especially the very large one nearest Taylor, are worth taking a second look at before they are destroyed. We may lose these trees unnecessarily and end up waiting a long time for so-called improvements.